Problematic Faves

Lessons I learned from dealing with my problematic fave: Kanye West.

Written by Kasey Clarke

We’ve all seen it. You open up Twitter to a myriad of angry tweets taking sides on the latest pop culture controversy. Some are predictable, some are shocking, but occasionally, when the person paying penance is also your favorite artist, things can get uncomfortable. Having your ethics called into question is rarely easy and the solution isn’t always black and white. So, for anyone lost, here’s some advice for when your fave turns problematic, as seen through my experience of being a Kanye stan.

1. An Early Kanye Controversy: Katrina Telethon

Aptly, I came to know Kanye through a controversy. In 2005, on live television, standing next to Mike Myers as he lamented the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye, in his now trademark outburst style, said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” I was six years old at the time and I didn’t understand how this played into the context of the racialized world, but I did hear people talking about it.

Most importantly, I heard people criticizing the president and taking both sides. As a kid going to a Texan elementary school while there was a Texan president, I’d only seen Bush praised. This was one of the first times I realized there were political and racial divides in the country and that saying something bad about the president was allowed. At an age when I didn’t even understand political parties, Kanye taught me about political discourse.

What I learned from this: Celebrities have a responsibility to engage in public dialogue.

This is a double edged sword. For one, a celebrity who ignores their influence and importance in the public sphere is doing a disservice to their fans. On the other hand, a celebrity’s personal views can’t possibly match up with every single one of their fans and has more to do with their personal experience than their music itself. However, I have found that music not influenced by the artist’s experiences or worldview at all is usually not of interest to me and that I can’t really trust people who don’t share their political views, because I don’t really know who they are. For better or for worse, I want to know who I’m supporting.

Additionally, from the celebrity’s point of view, I can’t reconcile seeing people who you might have the influence or the voice to help and keeping your mouth shut because it might affect your album sales. Keeping an inauthentically neutral public image is not realistic for an online fan base that can interact with celebrities directly. I don’t just listen to my favorite artists’ music, I follow their social media and I listen to what they say. Because of that, I want to know their position on things that I care about, and I am okay with a little controversy that comes from that.

2. The Taylor Swift Thing

The 2009 VMAs marked the moment that Kanye became permanently ingrained in the public conscience. To recap, West ran onstage as Taylor Swift was presented with the Best Female Video award for “You Belong With Me” — which won out over Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” — to proclaim that “Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time.”

When questioned later, Kanye apologized but was clearly not remorseful, explaining on his blog “I’m not crazy y’all, I’m just real.” Other reports from the night took a concerned but appalled tone as Kanye was rumored to have drank half a bottle of Hennessy before his onstage rant. (The rumor was later confirmed.)

At this time, I was 10 and both a Taylor Swift and Kanye fan. This is where things got confusing. I wanted to defend Kanye and I wanted to feel bad for Taylor. To some extent, I agreed with him. Beyoncé’s video was iconic. However, I didn’t see people conflicted over this issue. Kanye was painted as evil as positioned against Taylor’s youth and purity. While I knew what he did was wrong, something about this narrative didn’t sit right with me.

Despite the contention between Kanye fans and the rest of the media, Kanye did escape relatively unscathed. His reputation was altered, but in a way, this incident solidified his persona as someone people should expect rowdy outbursts from, and this caused fans to dismiss some of his even more alarming behavior in the future. This also set the tone for Kanye and his supporters to claim that he wasn’t bad, just misunderstood, an excuse to avoid holding him accountable.

What I learned from this: Be wary of cancel culture.

This is before “cancel culture” would even have a name, but people were too ready to victimize young Taylor and portray Kanye as a crazy renegade, paying little attention to what he actually said in his outburst, apology, or subsequent interviews. Kanye’s behavior was incredibly and inexcusably rude. However, I can’t help but feel that if this had taken place in 2017, when more people were talking about white artists being recognized and lauded over black artists, the conversation would’ve been much different. I don’t think what he did was justified, but I also don’t think he was given a real opportunity to make amends.

Overall, it is important to remain skeptical and considerate of your own biases in assessing the media’s reaction as well as your own defense mechanisms when someone starts attacking a person you admire.

3. The New Kanye

Sometime after 2009, Kanye’s public persona began to change. He went from voicing ideas that I could agree (or at least not disagree) with, in poorly timed and often inappropriate ways, to rapid-firing nonsensical tweets and defending himself by insisting he was a visionary.

Shortly after, he began “reappropriating” the Confederate flag by using it on his Yeezus tour merch to promote his song “New Slaves.” Rather than listening to what Kanye had to say, people considered his explanation the latest example of his eccentricities. Fans and critics jumped on the controversy and took sides in the ongoing debate over whether West was good or bad.

In a 2016 Twitter fight with Wiz Khalifa, Kanye’s compliments of #Wizwearscoolpants distracted readers from the alarming things Kanye was actually saying. “Don’t you ever in your f-cking life speak sideways about a n---- that’s fighting for us I do this all for us” he tweeted. Kanye has always been defensive, but this shifted from claiming he was misunderstood to believing himself to be infallible. When a celebrity fails to admit their wrongs, their fans are inclined to follow suit.

Then Kanye began praising conservative pundits, donning a MAGA hat and calling Trump his brother. While some fans couldn’t believe this, others recognized that Kanye had not been who they thought he was for a long time.

I cannot agree with the beliefs disseminated by Kanye. I also don’t agree with the media attention Kanye has received in response to his behavior. Lately, after his appearance on TMZ, people seem more comfortable watching him become a spectacle than confronting him. Regardless of his words, I can’t feel good about watching a room full of people laugh when he says he refuses to take his medication.

What I learned from this: There is no separating art from artist, and there is no separating celebrity from person.

Listening to even his old music, I could not distance myself from what Kanye was doing enough to enjoy his art independently. Who a musician is, is often just as important to their success as their music. In the past, it was easier to consider art and artist separate entities. Now, when someone with a top 40 hit sends a tweet, millions of people see it directly. What celebrities say has more influence and consequences than it used to, so they should be held more accountable for their actions.

However, even though I can’t actively support Kanye, I still have concern for him as a person. I would be happy if he redeemed himself. It is okay to be in the middle. Because of who Kanye is right now and what he is saying, I can’t listen to his music or remain a fan of his, but I’m not opposed to forgiveness. A celebrity is really just a presentation of a real person whose music is an extension of who they are. Right now, liking Kanye’s music directly benefits him and I can’t justify doing that. As for him as a person, I don’t think I could fully forgive someone who has supported racist and misinformed policies, but I do think I would read and consider a genuine apology.

Know when to draw the line.

This is not easy. Especially for someone you have been following for a long time, it can be hard not to rationalize new things they do that might otherwise be a deal breaker. However, listening to your gut feeling is important. If you feel guilt when listening to an artist or find yourself making excuses about them to your friends, it’s probably best not to continue supporting them. If you have uncertainty about how you as a fan might respond to an alleged celebrity controversy, take them off of public playlists and listen to them privately until you can educate yourself more about an issue and make an informed decision. Don’t let yourself be undecided or ignorant just because thinking about the problem may be unpleasant.

This almost goes without saying, but a nuanced conversation about people considered problematic does not apply to sexual predators, abusers, or people who blatantly spew racism, homophobia, or other hate speech. Navigating the grayer areas, though, takes a lot of empathy and also a personal understanding of what values you can or can’t compromise. It seems like there are constantly public trials deciding whether a person is good or bad based on their social media posts from 10 years ago. Some things are easy to dismiss and others aren’t, but for your consideration always expect better, because people can be. Bands like Paramore have stopped playing songs that contain problematic lyrics as they have evolved and gained a better understanding of how their statements can be harmful. Rapper Noname changed her original stage name after learning it contained a term offensive to Romani people. Holding people accountable and expecting them to be better will ultimately result in a healthier culture.

Obviously each situation is unique, but self-reflection can help you determine where your boundaries are. Through the years, Kanye has been the ideal celebrity for practicing thinking about controversy, and hopefully this can provide a set of guidelines for dealing with problematic faves of your own.

Afterglow ATXDecember 18, 2018kasey clarke